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Super 16: Blackhawks continue climb

Capitals, Wild, Penguins top three for fifth straight week

The Chicago Blackhawks are winning games and climbing up the NHL.com Super 16 power rankings.

The Blackhawks made a positive move for the second straight week, moving up one spot to No. 4 and garnering a No. 2 ranking by two of the 13 staff members who participate in the weekly power rankings. Chicago was No. 7 two weeks ago.

The Washington Capitals, Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins are first, second and third for the fifth consecutive week.

The Capitals again fell one point short of being a unanimous No. 1 because Tim Campbell, our Western Canada-based regional writer, put the Wild at No. 1 and the Capitals at No. 2 for the fifth straight week.

The Florida Panthers and New York Islanders jumped into the poll this week, knocking out the Nashville Predators and Los Angeles Kings.

The rankings are calculated by a points-based system based on the votes of the 13 participating staff members. Point values are assigned to each ranking. The point values are assigned as follows: 16 points for a No. 1 ranking, down to one point for a No. 16 ranking.

Check out where they all landed once the math was finished, and be sure stay for the information:

1. Washington Capitals (40-12-7)

Total points: 207Last week: No. 1

Hit: The Capitals have won 12 straight games at Verizon Center, where they will play four of their next six games.Miss: Defenseman Matt Niskanen sustained a lower-body injury in a 4-1 win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. He will be evaluated Thursday.

2. Minnesota Wild (39-14-6)

Total points: 190Last week: No. 2

Hit: Since becoming a line on Nov. 25, forwards Jason Zucker, Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund have combined for 114 points (45 goals, 69 assists). The Wild are 29-7-4 in that span.Miss: Minnesota will play its final 23 regular-season games in a span of 41 days starting Monday, when it returns from its five-day break to host Los Angeles.

3. Pittsburgh Penguins (37-14-8)

Total points: 183Last week: No. 3

Hit: The Penguins are 5-1-2 with a plus-14 goal differential in their past eight road games after going 8-9-3 with a minus-10 goal differential in their first 20 road games this season.Miss: Defensemen Justin Schultz (concussion) and Olli Maatta (hand) along with forwards Conor Sheary (upper body) and Bryan Rust (upper body) remain out of the lineup.

4. Chicago Blackhawks (37-18-5)

Total points: 170Last week: No. 5

Hit: The Blackhawks have won seven of their past eight games, including two on the road against the Wild. Jonathan Toews has 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in his past 12 games, including five in a 5-3 win against Minnesota on Tuesday.Miss: Nothing now.

5. New York Rangers (38-19-2)

Total points: 155Last week: No. 4

Hit: Henrik Lundqvist is 9-2-1 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in 13 games since Jan. 19. His GAA has dropped to 2.63 from 2.89, and his save percentage has risen to .912 from .902.Miss: The Rangers are 1-for-20 on the power play in their past seven games and 3-for-39 in their past 14.

6. Columbus Blue Jackets (37-16-5)

Total points: 138Last week: No. 7

Hit: The Blue Jackets have nine different players with 10 or more goals, and Matt Calvert, Brandon Dubinsky and Zach Werenski each has nine.Miss: The Blue Jackets return from their five-day break Saturday when they host the Islanders to start a stretch run of 24 games in 44 days, including 14 on the road and seven back-to-back sets.

7. San Jose Sharks (35-18-7)

Hit: The Sharks are 12-5-2 on the road since Nov. 30. They were 5-6-1 in their first 12 road games.Miss: They are 1-1-3 in their past five home games.

8. Montreal Canadiens (32-20-8)

Total points: 97Last week: No. 9

Hit: Carey Price made 58 saves on 62 shots in the past two games. He made 28 saves in a 3-2 shootout win against the Rangers on Tuesday, including a diving save on J.T. Miller in the waning seconds of overtime to get the game to the shootout.Miss: The Canadiens have scored 13 goals in their past nine games (2-6-1). They haven't won in regulation since Jan. 31.

9. Edmonton Oilers (33-20-8)

Total points: 96Last week: No. 10

Hit: The Oilers are 21-8-6 against Western Conference teams. They play their last 12 games of the season against Western Conference opponents.Miss: They are 12-12-2 against Eastern Conference teams after a 4-3 win at the Panthers on Wednesday. The Oilers play six of their next nine games against Eastern Conference opponents.

10. Anaheim Ducks (32-20-10)

Hit: The Ducks will play 11 of their next 13 games in California, including nine at home.Miss: Goalie John Gibson is day to day with a lower-body injury.

11. Ottawa Senators (32-20-6)

Total points: 88Last week: No. 12

Hit: The Senators are two points behind the Canadiens but have two games in hand; Montreal has two more regulation/overtime wins (30-28), which is the first tiebreaker.Miss: The injury bug bit Senators forwards this week. Bobby Ryan is out 4-6 weeks with a hand injury. Mark Stone is out with a neck injury. Mike Hoffman has a groin injury.

12. St. Louis Blues (31-24-5)

Total points: 65Last week: No. 11

Hit:Jake Allen has a .935 save percentage in eight games since Mike Yeo took over as coach for Ken Hitchcock and Martin Brodeur and Ty Conklin took over as goaltending coaches for Jim Corsi. Allen has allowed 15 goals on 231 shots since the changes.Miss: The Blues entered their five-day break by scoring three goals in back-to-back losses to the Buffalo Sabres and Panthers.

13. Florida Panthers (28-21-10)

Total points: 49Last week: NR

Hit: The Panthers climbed back into the playoff race by going 5-0-0 on a Western Conference road trip with wins at the Predators, Sharks, Ducks, Kings and Blues. They were 14-for-15 on the penalty kill on the road trip.Miss: They are 1-4-0 with eight goals in games following a road trip of four or more games after losing 4-3 to the Oilers on Wednesday.

14. Toronto Maple Leafs (28-20-11)

Total points: 38Last week: No. 13

Hit: Center Auston Matthews is the second teenager in Maple Leafs history to score 50 points in a season. The only other one to do it is Ted Kennedy in 1944-45, when he had 54 points in 49 games.Miss: Rookie forward Mitchell Marner (upper body) is expected to miss his fourth consecutive game Thursday, when the Maple Leafs host the Rangers.

15. Boston Bruins (30-24-6)

Total points: 28Last week: No. 15

Hit: The Bruins are averaging 3.21 goals per game in their past 24 games (77 goals in total). They averaged 2.31 goals per game in their first 36 games (83 goals in total).Miss: They have two wins from backup goalies.

16. New York Islanders (28-21-10)

Total points: 24Last week: NR

Hit: John Tavares has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in the past 14 games, and Anders Lee has 11 (five goals, six assists) in the past 11.Miss: The Islanders will play their next eight games on the road. After defeating the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday, they are 8-13-4.